The political figures analysed in this collection are American presidents and British prime ministers, Lyndon Baines Johnson, Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Barack Obama, Gordon Brown, Theresa May, and Donald Trump, along with one would to be president, who never made it, John Edwards. Each had different methods and motivations, but they all sought the highest office. All discovered that there are limits to their power (although the current incumbent of the White House has yet to realised that) and all had faced bureaucratic obstructions. Perhaps their biggest obstruction was their character, argues David Runciman.

The source material for these essays varies from case to case. Some are coming from memoirs written by the leaders themselves, some are from books written from colleagues or friends and some are from biographers, friendly or less friendly. Yet, says Runciman, “it is striking how consistently the theme of character being destiny comes through in each of them.”

It is, therefore, through these books, and no familiarity with the actual political leader that Runciman get to see the type of person he is dealing with and starts to get a picture of the true shape of their political power.

The premise of the book is that the personality of the politician helps explain the scope and the limitations of the office. “None of these people was fundamentally changed by their time in power. The person who arrives at the summit of politics is recognisably the same as the person who comes down from it. Who they really are was set in advance. What changes are the circumstances in which they find themselves and their expectation of what can be done while they are there.”

All the essays in this collection were originally published in the London Review of Books over a period of the last ten years.